Saturday Experience (1987-94)

A day in the life of me on a Saturday during my late 80s early 90s youthful years

Being born in 1983, I got the fortunate opportunity to be part of the late 80s/ early 90s atmosphere. In every aspect, it was the greatest time to be a kid. Not just because of the simplicity of how things were during that time, but unlike todays kids, money was not the primary worry. The key emphasis during that time was to be a kid and enjoy every minute of it.

(7:00a.m-12:00p.m).

Before I became the artist I am now, my inspiration had to come from somewhere; and that somewhere just happened to be in front of the tv. I usually woke up around 7 in the morning, ran downstairs in my pj's and socks, pouring myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes to sit in front of the tv for Saturday morning cartoons. My channel of choice was always CBS.

CBS always gave me a significance of comfort; mainly because of the brightness of its Saturday lineup. The colors that came from CBS during that time always managed to wake me up and keep me excited throughout the morning (those CBS colors would also follow me into my artistic background) So there was never a dull moment for me when it came to waking up for Saturday.

Even the CBS ID was dazzled with bright blue and purple colors. Everytime I look at this logo I am heavily reminded as to just how much fun my childhood was.

However there was one rule of thumb that I never broke which was to make sure that I didn't miss the Bugs Bunny and Tweety show even if it wasn't on CBS

(12:00p.m-7:30p.m)Throughout this time frame, Saturday morning cartoons were coming to an end for the week and the afternoon time for me was littered with unlimited options which was another great thing about being a kid back then. There was hardly ever a time where boredom was in my schedule.

(option1: Soul Train)

After the Bugs Bunny and Tweety show, sometimes I would turn back to CBS to watch a little bit of soul train. There was plenty of fun and energy during the New Jack swing era (1987-1993.) Lots of energy in the music which added to the dancing in every aspect. Lots of hot dancers wearing spandex and high heals (don't know how the hell they were able to dance the way they did in those shoes without killing their feet) with incredible dance moves. I was never into dancing, but it was always fun to watch others, especially in this show.

(option2: video games)

If it was raining outside or if I just wanted to stay home for a while, the Nintendo / Super Nintendo was the option of choice. Hours upon hours of gameplay, especially with games like Mario3, Turtles in Time, Legend of Zelda, Starfox and Megaman 3 just to name a few games I had. Usually when it came to video games, time didn't exist. It was so easy to lose track of time. Sometimes I would play games and once I turned the video games off it was close to sunset.

(option3: The Great Outdoors)

AHHHH, the great outdoors. playing football, playing basketball, games of tag, or just random games that we made up. If I didn't want to play video games, playing outside was the option of choice. It was always important to get some fresh air and after all the sugar that was consumed during the morning time in front of the TV, made a lot of since especially for burning off calories.

Playing outside made way for a lot of adventure. Running through the neighborhood, riding bikes,playing on the playground with friends. Every time I went outside, I didn't know what was gonna happen but I knew that it was gonna be fun. There were dull times every once and a while, but it was always overshadowed by the good clean fun.

(option4: traveling with the family)

After the morning time, there were times where my parents wanted to go somewhere and take me and my brother with them. They would always say they were going to the store but I always knew that that wasn't exactly where we were going and it always turned into us going to one or two of the following places above.

From what I can remember, Discovery Zone was around during the early to mid 90s. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to experience this place.

I have very vague memories of this place. during the late 80s, I went here 2 times. I was about 4 years old during that time. The pizza, the tokens, the retro arcades. I may not have a lot of memories of playing there, but I remember later on that it would bare a strong resemblance to a new fun place that we as a family would later go to.

I have plenty of memories here. We went here as a family usually once every month. I remember we went here on a field trip at my elementary school, my 7th birthday was celebrated here. So many great times and great memories in the big play place. whenever we would go as a family it was always a surprise. My brother and I never knew we were going there and when my parents made the turn inside the parking lot area it would always put a secret and very noticeable smile on our faces. for my brother, it meant pizza and going to play in the play place. For me, the pizza the games and one thing that I always looked forward to

The minute I got my tokens, the TMNT arcade was the first place I went to"No Questions Asked." sometimes there would be 2 maybe 3 people there. Then I would jump in as the 4th turtle. Didn't matter what turtle we were, when it came to playing this game we only knew 2 things: push buttons and kick ass; and boy did we have fun doing so. Afterward, pizza and going after tickets was my main priority. All and all, great fun all around.

When it came to shopping and at times looking for new video games or just hanging out at the food court, no place was better than the mall. Shopping for new clothes (during that time, bright loud cross colors.) video games, or just walking around looking at the other stores was just one of the many reasons the mall was great place to be on Saturdays.

Americas fast food pit stop and the best place that I wanted to be next to Chuck E. Cheeses.

(option4: Nickelodeon)

should there be a reason why I don't want to go outside or my parents don't want to go anywhere or video games weren't on my mind, 80s and 90s Nickelodeon was the cure for that problem. Any type of bad day, rainy day, boredom or just wanting to watch something, Nickelodeon was there for every kind of childhood emergency. It didn't matter what time of day I watched Nickelodeon, there was never a time that there was something bad to watch. It was almost as if the channel was created for the sheer purpose of ending all boredom of everyday life.

With the day winding down and the sun casting off into sunset, nightly festivities would surround our house.

(8:00p.m-10:00p.m)

One of those festivities just happen to be the HBO feature presentations. I was lucky enough that we had cable to get HBO and glorify at the significance of the HBO feature presentation. Sometimes we would cook up so popcorn and sit around the TV as a family as the intro was starting. Once that intro started we knew that we were in for a great movie night. My brother would always go crazy when it came on. It would always bring great joy to his face. Moving along into the early 90s, a new type of attraction would comfort my Saturday experience.

As the early 90s began, so did a new Saturday night block called Snick. This would be my way of ending Saturday on a good note. 2 hours of good quality TV. from 8-10. Clarissa Explains it All, Roundhouse, Ren and Stimpy and Are You Afraid of the Dark was the first lineup during Snick's early beginnings; along with its trademarked big orange couch.

(10:00p.m-11 or 12:00a.m)After Snick was over so was my Saturday which usually ended with a little Nick at Night (Make Room for Dad, My Three Sons, Dick Van Dyke, etc.) and then I would call it a night. With pleasant thoughts of a good day and hoping to do it again next Saturday.

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Awesome article!! I too remember the good old days of Chuckie Cheese and DZ. I remember when DZ went out of business and thinking WHY?! That place had so many tubes and slide and a huge ball pit and I had literally had a "Ball" there, lol! But I guess Chuckie Cheese has outlasted DZ because it has more video games and a mascot and is more geared towards parents to have something to do as well. I also look forward as well watching the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show and Garfield and friends on Sat mornings and I loved to watch SNICK on Saturday night, when Sat. night as a kid was worth staying home, lol!

Ah, this makes me reminisce so much. But you can't be forgetting the X-men arcade games! Those were almost as cool as the Turtles games. But woe was the poor sap who got stuck with Cyclops, I always made sure to get cool characters like Wolverine or Beast.

Thanks for this article. Saturday Mornings are just not the same anymore.

Oh, and I LOVE "Pee-wee's Playhouse"! I used to watch it all the time. I recorded some episodes of it before it went off the air, so I would have some episodes to watch. I also subsided on video rentals. And then I recorded some more episodes when it returned to TV in 1998.

Even now, despite my age (22 years), I still watch the show on occasion (I got the DVDs for Christmas, which was shortly after the show was released on DVD).

Oh, and I also love "The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show". I can tell you, for me, in my youth, ABC and CBS were where they were at for me.

I could be mistaken, but I believe that Chuck E. Cheese's bought out Showbiz. I'm glad you posted this. There have been many times when I've struggled to remember: "What was the name of that place before it was Chuck E. Cheese's"? Thanks!

Thanks so much for creating this for the longest time i thought i was the only one of my generation who had a good enough memory to recall the Tv shows of the 80's and early 90's but it's so great to have found others who share the same enthausiasm.

I was born in '83 as well and I couldn't have put it any better. I had A showbiz Pizza right by where I lived, a lot of people still look at me funny when I ask them if they remember showbiz. Your article did for me exactly what I expect from this site total nostalgia!

I only went to Discovery Zone and Chuck E. Cheese once. I liked DZ better because it wasn't as noisy (or busy) as Chuck E. Cheese lol. I was also afraid of Mr. Cheese himself when I was a kid. I remember watching commercials for Showbiz Pizza and wanting to go, but sadly, never made it there until it became CEC.

That was pretty popular in the early 90s, at least with my knowledge. And I agree with lilginger, why aren't there Kids blocks on Saturdays anymore? I mean a lot of what is on now has nothing to do with kids entertainment but more so dealing with Saturday Morning Sports and Talk Shows.

Wow! I did and watched the exact same things when I was a kid. Well I am two years older and didn't watch Soul Train. I opted for American Bandstand. I also unfortunately never got to go to Discovery Zone either but I guess I didn't miss anything since The Outlaw said it sucked. I also agree with Saradomin about Saturday mornings today. I wish my son had it as good as we did. I mean the Today Show is on Saturday mornings now along with other crap. Saturday mornings were meant for kids!

Great article. I've actually been to Discovery Zone a couple times. While its arcade by no means matched up to the arcade at Chucke Cheese's, it had BY FAR the BEST tube maze I've ever been in. It was the only tube maze I ever got lost in, multiple times - it was absolutely massive. It also had large multi-story rooms where you could climb around on ropes and poles or jump into ball pits, and multiple slides. I was sad that it went under. I don't remember the food very much, but the pizza at Chucke Cheese's was horrible so it was probably better.

I grew up with a lot of things you mentioned in your article, and I miss them. As a child I practically grew with cartoons and videogames, and my life couldn't of been better. These days (late 80s early 90s) were also when my sister actually had time for me and we would go do all sorts of cool stuff.

Saturdays are terrible now. Not only because I have to work, but also because that this generation doesn't have it as good as we did during yesteryear. One day recently I flipped through the channels and I was appalled by the choices. Talk about a lack of variety. I want something more than just dubbed anime and poorly drawn cartoons. I think it's safe to say that the glory days are gone. Hopefully someday someone will come up with the idea to bring these shows back on television along with all the old commercials that were fun to watch on Saturday Mornings. Though it's likely it will be on a retro channel.

I never got to go to a Discovery Zone either. I wanted to SO BAD but I lived in Small Town, USA and the nearest one was all the way in Denver. By the time I did move someplace where there was one it CLOSED. >_< The building and logo still stand to this day though.

Hah, when I was growing up video games were THE number 1 option after all my favorite shows ended, since I had approximately 0 friends. Nothing rounded out a good Saturday morning like Super Mario Bros. 3 or River City Ransom

One thing I didn't like is you didn't name many of the shows you watched, only just their pictures. It'd be nice to have some more shows known, especially since what you have up there is roughly 2 1/2 hours of TV, and theres more to Saturdays then THAT!

I loved the Saturday mornings on CBS! My memory also includes Muppet Babies and that show Ernest had (I don't remember the name of it though). But I would always stray from CBS to watch The Real Ghostbusters on ABC, they were my priority... And if I wasn't eating Ghostbuster, Ninja Turtle, or Mario Bros. cereal, I was eating Top Ramon Noodles.lol

My Saturdays was very similar to yours. Got up at 6:30, took a bath, got the cereal and went to the TV for cartoon viewing. After the cartoons were over, I watched Soul Train, then I would go to the mall or watch Nickelodeon. Saturdays are so boring now.